Despite my exhaustion, I couldn't resist the urge to check out a couple more abandoned schools before I ran out of daylight.

Clutier, Iowa is a neat little town of around 200 people, covering three-quarters of a square mile in the Salt Creek Valley region of Tama County. Founded in 1900 by William E. Brice, the town was largely settled by Czech immigrants. Clutier is still known for its Czech cuisine and summertime polka concerts as well as its annual Bohemian Plum Festival.

Clutier Public School was built in 1925 and in 1961, merged with Traer School to become Traer-Clutier. The consolidation of local school districts continued, and in 1965 Dinsdale Community School joined, forming North Tama County Community School District.

It was remarkably difficult to find much information on the history of the school, probably because of the large number of small-town schools in Iowa that closed due to consolidation.

After a lot of digging, I managed to find out that Clutier Public School had a very talented young women's basketball team called The Chargin' Czechs. From 1939 to 1948, they achieved a 201-18-1 record and took part in the state tournament six times.

1942 was an exceptional year for the Chargin' Czechs. They were undefeated, winning 31 games and the Iowa Title. Clutier's Betty Mundt was the state tournament’s top scorer that year, with 75 points in four games.

Photo from the Cedar Rapids Gazette in 1942 of the Clutier girls’ basketball state championship team(courtesy of http://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/girls-state-basketball-memories-from-newhall-to-clutier-20160214)

The team's memory still lives on. In 2007, the mayor of Clutier proclaimed September 15 as Chargin’ Czech Day and a monument was built in their honor at the town entrance. The Iowa Hall of Pride in Des Moines has dedicated part of its "Six-Girl Basketball in Iowa" display to the 1942 team, including a team photo, the championship trophy, a team uniform, and the white basketball that was used during their time.

The classrooms of the old school are now water-damaged, but surprisingly still intact, a stark contrast to Searsboro Consolidated School, which is in far worse shape.

Despite the lack of graffiti, smashed windows are a sign that Clutier Public School has not been entirely spared from vandalism.

Attempts were made to cover some of the broken windows, but the effort was apparently abandoned some time ago.

Light fixtures still hang in a few rooms where ceiling tiles have not yet come loose.

A staircase stained from decades of flooding leads down to a spooky cafeteria.

The tiles have peeled up from the floor, forming a layer of brittle, curled rectangles.

The kitchen is bare, except for a stainless steel sink leaning against the wall.

By the time I finished admiring the old school the sky had grown pitch dark, but there was still one more school I wanted to check out before embarking on the long drive into Illinois.

A few miles from Clutier lies the town of Dysart, home of the abandoned Dysart-Geneseo Consolidated School. I knew the property was off limits, but I wanted to capture a few shots of the school from afar, if possible.

I parked along the side of the road and could barely make out the old structure in the near-total darkness. I got out my tripod to experiment with some long-exposure photography. I managed to get a decent shot of the school and teachers' dormitory. The pictures turned out a little blurry, but were shockingly bright as if I'd taken them in the middle of the day.

While I stood there with my tripod, a truck drove by, slowing slightly as it passed me, and then pulled into the driveway of the only nearby house. Just as I was getting ready to leave, two cop cars showed up, blinding me with their lights. The police told me someone had reported suspicious activity. It was obvious who had made the call, since only one vehicle had passed during the short time I was there.

I showed the cops the pictures I had taken, to prove that I hadn't trespassed onto the property. They were as amazed as I was at how the photos had turned out. Realizing I'd done nothing illegal, the officers were pretty friendly. I was disappointed that the neighbors had called the police instead of simply stopping to ask what I was up to. I guess that's the sort of mistrustful world we live in, even in small-town America.

I got back on the road and drove for several hours, crossing into Illinois before I stopped to rest for the night. The Rust Belt was just over the horizon and I could hardly wait for the dawn of a new day filled with new places to explore...

17 comments
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Great story Jim. I love exploring myself, and since I'm in Canada and out of reach to these areas,its nice to be able to explore through your stories and pictures ( although it's so much better being there!! ;))Thanks again, and keep up the awesome work!

Interesting seeing the pictures of the interior of the school where I attended. I grew up in Clutier and attended this school. The school did not close in 1961. I wasn't born until 1962 and attended this school through 6th grade. In 1974, it became the consolidated Jr. High School for Clutier, Traer, and Dinsdale and I attended here until starting high school in 1976. I graduated from high school in 1980 and it was still operating as a school then. Not sure when it actually closed but it was certainly not 1961.

The Clutier building closed sometime in the mid-80's. The North Tama district used the building as a Jr. High and elementary until that time. Now North Tama is operating from one campus in Traer.

The Geneseo building you referred to was the "Geneseo Consolidated School." It served grades K-12 until 1966, when it merged with Dysart to become part of "Dysart-Geneseo Community Schools." The building served as an elementary and Jr. High and was closed in the early 80's. The building that you refer to as the administration building was actually a teacher dormitory.

This has brought back MANY memories of being in the Clutier school. I went to kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades there. I was in a class of 14 kids. I then finished my elementary years in Traer when the schools consolidated. I went back for my junior high years, 7th and 8th grades. The long steel building with the 2 yellowish doors was an addition built on. The right door had a painting of Garfield the cat, which our art teacher painted. This door led to the art/industrial arts room. The door on the left was the entrance to the band room. I would have loved to have seen pictures of the rooms and library upstairs and the gym. I was fortunate to be able to win the bid at an auction and own the scoreboard that was in the gym. One of my classmate's dad used to own the school and used the gymnasium as a place to store his prized tractors. I graduated from North Tama in 1987. I cannot say for sure when the school was closed either. I vaguely remember the junior high kids coming to Traer when I was in high school, so mid eighties is a good guess as to when it shut down. Again, the memories stirred up from this is fun. Learning to tie my shoe with a wooden shoe along with my address and phone number in kindergarten to going down those "creepy" stairs to go to lunch to going back and making it through those awkward years of 7th and 8th grades. Thank you!

The Clutier school closed at the end of the 85-86 school year. I was in the last 8th grade class that went there. Brings back a lot of good memories and even recognized which class rooms that were photographed.

My grandparents lived in Clutier, after they moved into town when they retired from the farm near Elberon. We would visit and spend many a summer day playing on the grass lawn in front of Clutier school. Beautiful shade trees and a thick long wooden teeter-totter are strong memories. Also, my Dad grew up in Dysart and I remember him taking me by and showing me "his" old Dysart HS. Kinda sad seeing the Clutier school decaying away.... but I guess that's progress. Thanks for article.

Hey Jim im not sure if you are still active on this how did you find out who to talk to about being allowed on properties that are abandon? Im wanting to try and explore abandon places and im an iowa native and would love to visit this school ive heard lots of stories about them. I hope you can reply thanks if you can email me i would greatly appreciate it. (Fredfrederick12@gmail.com But loved your story